But while Sacramento wasn’t always considered a first city, there have been plenty of notable and famous people who were born and raised in the region. In fact, some of the biggest recognizable names from the silver screen, politics, Olympic athletes, professional sports players and even musicians are from Sacramento.
Here is our list of the top 75 most famous people from Sacramento. The list of famous people who lived in Sacramento at some point is much longer, but this is just folks who were born and/or raised here.
Famous actors and filmmakers:
1. LeVar Burton (raised) – actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
2. Jessica Chastain (raised) – actress (The Huntsman Winter’s War, Interstellar, The Martian)
3. Merrin Dungey (born and raised) – actress (The King of Queens, Alias and Summerland)
4. Sam Elliott (born) – actor (Roadhouse, Tombstone)
5. Sasha Grey (raised in Sacramento County, attended Sacramento City College) – Actress, model, author, musician and former adult actress
6. Tom Hanks (From Concord, attended CSUS, lived in Sacramento) – actor, director, producer (Forrest Gump, Castaway, Saving Private Ryan)
7. Sam J. Jones – actor (Flash Gordon, Ted and Ted 2)
8. Molly Ringwald (born and raised in the Sacramento area) – actress (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club)
Famous broadcasters and journalists:
9. Herb Caen (born) - San Francisco columnist
10. Lester Holt (raised in Sacramento County, CSUS graduate) – anchor of NBC Nightly News, moderates the presidential debate
11. Lisa Ling – TV personality on The View, host of This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN
Famous musicians and acts:
12. CAKE – alternative rock band
13. Craig Chaquico – Jefferson Starship guitarist
14. Club Nouveau – R&B group
15. Deftones – alternative metal band
16. Cynthia Robinson – musician, inductee of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Sly and the Family Stone
17. Tesla – rock band
18. Jabbawockeez – dance crew (members Phil Tayag, Joe Larot and Kevin Brewer are from Sacramento)
Famous writers:
19. Deborah Blum – Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author
20. Nicholas Sparks (raised in Fair Oaks) - author of "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember".
21. Joan Didion (born and raised) – author, journalist, screenwriter
22. Mark Twain – novelist and humorist
23. Cornel West – scholar on issues of religion, Marxism, American philosophy, racial matters
Famous baseball players:
24. Larry Bowa – Los Angeles Dodgers coach, former MLB shortstop and manager
25. Jerry Manuel – former MLB player, manager of New York Mets and Chicago White Sox
26. Manny Parra – pitcher for Cincinnati Reds
27. Dustin Pedroia – second baseman Boston Red Sox
28. Dusty Baker – MLB outfielder, manager of San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs
29. Derrek Lee – 15–year MLB infielder
30. Brad Lidge – 11-year MLB pitcher
31. Buck Martinez – 17–year MLB catcher
32. Mark McLemore – former pitcher for Houston Astros
33. F.P. Santangelo – seven–year MLB player, analyst on Giants pregame show on Fox Sports Net
34. Steve Sax – MLB All–Star second baseman
35. Greg Vaughn – four–time MLB All–Star outfielder
36. Randy Veres – 6–year pitcher for five MLB teams
37. Fernando Viña – 12–year infielder for five MLB teams
38. John Vukovich – 11–year infielder for three teams; manager of Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies
Famous basketball players:
39. Ryan Anderson – New Orleans Pelicans forward
40. Matt Barnes - the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers.
41. Bill Cartwright – NBA center who played for three teams and won three championships
42. Kevin Johnson – former NBA guard who played for Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, became mayor of Sacramento in 2008
43. Ruthie Bolton – noted WNBA player, Olympian
Famous boxers:
44. Max Baer – former world heavyweight boxing champion
45. Diego Corrales – former world lightweight and junior lightweight boxing champion
46. Otis Griffin – boxer and winner of Fox reality TV show The Next Great Champ
47. Tony Lopez – former world super featherweight and lightweight boxing champion
Famous NFL football players:
48. Seneca Wallace – backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns
49. Lance Briggs - 12-year linebacker for the Chicago Bears
50. Teddy Bruschi - 13-year linebacker who won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots
51. Dan Bunz – eight–year NFL linebacker won two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers
52. Rae Carruth – former NFL wide receiver found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder of his girlfriend
53. Ken O'Brien – 11–year quarterback for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles
54. Jason Sehorn – nine–year NFL defensive back for the New York Giants and St. Louis Rams
55. Eric Thomas – nine–year NFL defensive back
56. Gerald Willhite – seven–year NFL running back for the Denver Broncos
Famous golfers:
57. Tom Johnson – PGA Tour golfer
58. Spencer Levin – PGA Tour golfer
59. Nick Watney – PGA Tour golfer
Famous martial artists:
60. Urijah Faber – professional mixed martial arts fighter in the UFC and former WEC featherweight champion.
61. T.J. Dillashaw - professional mixed martial arts fighter in the UFC and former UFC Bantamweight Champion.
62. Chad Mendes – professional mixed martial arts fighter in the UFC
Famous Olympians:
63. Eric Heiden – five-time gold medalist speed skater
64. Ruthie Bolton – women's basketball 1996 and 2000 Olympics gold medalist
65. Tommy Kono – three–time medalist in weightlifting, 1952, 1956, 1960
66. Summer Sanders – gold medalist swimmer at 1992 Summer Olympics
67. Mark Spitz – seven-time gold medalist swimmer
68. Debbie Meyer - three-time Olympic champion swimmer
Other famous sports figures and athletes:
69. Scott Boras – sports agent, minor league baseball player
70. Vic Grimes – professional wrestler
71. Kyle Larson – professional racer, NASCAR driver
72. Scott Pruett – racer (NASCAR, Champ Car, IMSA GT, Trans Am and Grand–Am)
Businessmen and politicians:
73. Charles R. Schwab (born) – founder of Charles Schwab Corporation
74. Anthony Kennedy – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Supreme Court J(born in Sacramento and graduated from McClatchy High School)
75. Kevin Johnson – former mayor of Sacramento, NBA player
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Were you surprised by any of the famous names on the list?
Or did we forget someone? Feel free to comment or contact us, and thanks for
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